JPH062581A - Throttle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To adjust a step-on feeling of an accelerator pedal in accordance with an operating condition of an engine. CONSTITUTION:A throttle valve 5 provided in an intake pipe 2 of an engine 1 is driven to open/close by a stepping motor 6. An accelerator opening sensor 10 for detecting an accelerator operating amount is provided in an accelerator pedal 9. A water temperature sensor 32 for detecting a temperature of circulative cooling water is provided in the engine 1, and a shift position sensor 33a for detecting a shift position is provided in a shift lever device 33. In a CPU23, a play amount (dead band width) of the accelerator pedal 9 is set in accordance with a temperature of cooling water by the water temperature sensor 32 and a shift position by the shift position sensor 33a. The CPU23 controls the stepping motor 6 in order to obtain a throttle opening corresponding to the accelerator operating amount by the accelerator opening sensor 10 by using this play amount.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a throttle control device for an engine mounted on a vehicle, and more particularly to a throttle control device for adjusting the opening of a throttle valve according to the operation amount of an accelerator pedal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional throttle control device, an accelerator pedal and a throttle valve are connected by a wire. In this case, the depressing characteristic of the accelerator pedal depends on the urging force of a return spring attached to the accelerator pedal or a link. It is uniquely determined by the frictional force of the system. Therefore, it is difficult to adjust the pedaling characteristic of the pedal according to the driver's preference. For example, at the time of sudden acceleration, the accelerator pedal may be depressed more than necessary, resulting in an acceleration shock.

Therefore, a device has been proposed in which a cushioning member (damper) is attached to the accelerator pedal to regulate the accelerator pedal operating speed and to adjust the depression characteristic of the accelerator pedal.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional device equipped with the cushioning member, the depression characteristic of the accelerator pedal is adjusted only within a preset region, and the actual driving condition of the vehicle is not affected. It was not easy to fit.

On the other hand, in recent years, there has been an increasing demand for improving the stable running of the vehicle and the feeling (pedal feeling) when the accelerator pedal is depressed, but the conventional device described above can sufficiently meet these demands. There wasn't.

The present invention has been made in order to meet the above-mentioned problems and demands, and enables stable running of a vehicle by a simple means for changing the relationship between the depression amount of the accelerator pedal and the opening degree of the throttle valve. The purpose is to improve pedal feeling.

[0007]

As shown in FIG. 7, a throttle control device of the present invention includes a throttle actuator M1 for opening and closing a throttle valve provided in an intake pipe of an engine, and a depressing operation of an accelerator pedal. Accelerator pedal operation amount detecting means M2 for detecting the amount
The engine operating state detecting means M3 for detecting the operating state of the engine; and the dead zone width of the accelerator pedal for closing the throttle valve from the non-operated position of the accelerator pedal to the position operated by a predetermined amount. By using the dead zone width setting means M4 set according to the operating state of the engine detected by the operating state detecting means and the dead zone width set by the dead zone width setting means M4, the accelerator pedal operation amount detecting means M2 is used. The gist is that the control means M5 for controlling the throttle actuator M1 is provided so that the throttle opening corresponds to the detected accelerator pedal depression amount.

[0008]

According to the above construction, the dead zone width setting means M4 is
The dead zone width is set according to the engine operating state detected by the engine operating state detecting means M3. The control unit M5 uses the width of the dead zone set by the dead zone width setting unit M4 to set the throttle opening corresponding to the accelerator pedal depression amount detected by the accelerator pedal operation amount detection unit M2. Control M1. As a result, the width of the dead zone corresponding to the operating state of the engine is set.

When the width of the dead zone is increased, the driver depresses the accelerator pedal more to obtain the same engine torque, and the reaction force of the return spring of the accelerator pedal makes the driver feel as if operating the pedal. It feels like it has changed. Also, when the dead zone width becomes smaller, the driver can obtain the desired torque with a smaller amount of depression of the accelerator pedal, and the reaction force of the accelerator pedal return spring is small. Gives the driver a feeling that the car has become lighter.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a throttle control device.

In FIG. 1, a section C shows a schematic plane of the vehicle, and a section D shows an intake system of the engine. In this throttle control device, an intake pipe 2 is connected to the engine 1, and air is taken into the intake pipe 2 via an air cleaner 3. Further, the intake pipe 2 is provided with an air flow meter 4 for detecting the amount of air. A throttle valve 5 for adjusting the intake air amount is provided in the intake pipe 2 downstream of the air flow meter 4. The throttle valve 5 is configured to be opened and closed by a stepping motor 6. Further, the throttle valve 5 is also provided with a throttle opening sensor 7 which detects the rotation of the throttle valve 5 and outputs an electric signal proportional to the throttle opening.

On the other hand, the engine 1 has an engine speed N
A rotation speed sensor 8 for detecting e and a water temperature sensor 32 for detecting the temperature of the cooling water circulating in the engine 1 are provided. Further, the accelerator pedal 9 is provided with an accelerator opening sensor 10 that outputs an electric signal proportional to the accelerator operation amount Ap.

As is well known in the art, the accelerator pedal 9 is provided with a return spring 9a for returning the accelerator pedal 9 to the non-depressed position. You will feel a reaction.

The driving force of the engine 1 is supplied to the drive shaft 13 via the torque converter 11 and the automatic transmission 12.
And the left and right drive wheels 14 and 15 are rotated via the differential gear 31. Torque converter 1
1 is equipped with a lock-up clutch that mechanically connects the input and output, and is controlled by a lock-up solenoid 29. Further, the automatic transmission 12 includes the shift solenoid 30.
The shift control is performed by.

The shift lever device 33 has six shift positions, specifically, a parking (P) range for use during parking and a reverse (R) range for use during reverse.
A range, a neutral (N) range that holds the neutral position, and a drive (D), second (S), and low (L) range for use during normal traveling are prepared. Further, the shift lever device 33 is provided with a shift position sensor 33a for detecting each shift position.

The drive system includes wheel speed sensors 18, 1 for detecting the rotational speeds of the left and right front wheels 16, 17 which are driven wheels.
9. Wheel speed sensors 20 and 21 for detecting the rotational speeds of the left and right drive wheels 14 and 15 are provided. These wheel speed sensors 18, 19, 20, 21 are connected to the wheels 14, 15,
The rotational speeds of 16 and 17 are detected by an electromagnetic pickup.

The air flow meter 4, the stepping motor 6, the throttle opening sensor 7, the rotation speed sensor 8, the water temperature sensor 32, the accelerator opening sensor 10, the wheel speed sensors 18, 19, 20, 21 and the shift lever device 33. The shift position sensors 33a are each connected to an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as ECU) 22. This ECU
Reference numeral 22 denotes a CPU 23, a ROM 24, and a RAM 25 that are central to a logical operation circuit, and an input / output circuit for performing input / output with the outside, here, a sensor input circuit 26, a drive circuit 27, etc. are connected to each other via a common bus 28. It is configured.

The CPU 23 includes an air flow meter 4, a throttle opening sensor 7, a rotation speed sensor 8, a water temperature sensor 32,
Accelerator position sensor 10 and wheel speed sensors 18, 1
The signals from 9, 20, and 21 are input via the sensor input circuit 26, respectively. Then, the CPU 23 outputs a drive signal for driving the stepping motor 6 via the drive circuit 27 based on these signals and the programs and data in the ROM 24 and the RAM 25. Also, CP
U23 is the shift position sensor 3 of the shift lever device 33.
The shift position is detected by the signal from 3a, and the lock-up solenoid 29 of the torque converter 11 is controlled and the shift solenoid 30 of the automatic transmission 12 is controlled according to the shift position.

In this embodiment, the stepping motor 6 constitutes a throttle actuator, and the accelerator opening sensor 10 constitutes an accelerator pedal operation amount detecting means. In addition, the water temperature sensor 32 and the shift lever device 3
The shift position sensor 33a of No. 3 constitutes an engine operating state detecting means. Further, the CPU 23 constitutes a dead zone width setting means and a control means.

Next, the operation of the throttle control device of this embodiment will be described. In the relationship between the accelerator operation amount Ap and the throttle opening θ shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 23 closes the throttle valve 5 (= opening “0”) from a position where the accelerator pedal 9 is not operated to a position where the accelerator pedal 9 is operated by a predetermined amount. Has a dead zone for changing the dead zone width W. That is, in FIG. 3, the dead band width can be changed to W'by translating the characteristic line indicated by L1 as indicated by L2. In this embodiment, the dead zone width is changed by determining the play amount Apo (dead zone width) with respect to the characteristic line L3 passing through the origin P in FIG.
The play amount Apo is subtracted from the accelerator operation amount Ap detected in step S3 to obtain the throttle opening θ corresponding to the characteristic line L3. The specific operation of the CPU 23 will be described below.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart executed by the CPU 23 at predetermined time intervals. The CPU 23 first detects the shift position of the shift lever device 33 in step 100. Then, in the case of the neutral (N) range or the parking (P) range, proceed to step 110, and in the case of the reverse (R) range, proceed to step 120, and the drive (D) range, the second (S) range or the low (L) range. If it is in the range, the process proceeds to step 130. CP
U23 sets the play amount Apo to a small value (Apo = 0.5 °) in step 110 and the play amount Apo in step 120.
Is set to a large value (Apo = 5 °), and in step 130, the play amount Apo is set to a medium value (Apo = 2 °).

Next, the CPU 23 executes steps 110, 1
After setting the play amount Apo with 20, 130, step 14
At 0, the play correction coefficient KApo is obtained from the water temperature Tw detected by the water temperature sensor 32 using the map of FIG. This Figure 4
In the case of the predetermined water temperature KTw or less, the lower the water temperature Tw, the larger the play correction coefficient KApo, and
It is set to become "1" when w is exceeded. Then, in step 150, the CPU 23 executes steps 110-110.
The play amount Apo set in any one of 130 and the play correction coefficient KApo calculated in step 140 are multiplied, and the value (= Apo · KApo) is set as the play amount Apo.

In step 160, the CPU 23 subtracts the play amount Apo calculated in step 150 from the accelerator operation amount Ap detected by the accelerator opening sensor 10, and after correcting the value (= Ap-Apo) by the dead zone. Is the accelerator operation amount Ap of.

In step 170, the CPU 23 calculates the throttle opening command value θcmd from the accelerator operation amount Ap calculated in step 160 and the engine rotation speed Ne detected by the rotation speed sensor 8 using the map of FIG. To do. In the map shown in FIG. 5, the horizontal axis is the accelerator operation amount Ap, and
The vertical axis represents the throttle opening command value θcmd and has a characteristic line for each engine speed Ne. Furthermore, the CPU 23
In step 180, the throttle command voltage Vcmd is calculated from the throttle opening command value θcmd using the map of FIG. 6, and the command voltage Vcmd is output to the drive circuit 27.

After that, the drive circuit 27 drives the stepping motor 6 according to the throttle command voltage Vcmd. Then, as the stepping motor 6 is driven, the throttle valve 5 is adjusted to a desired opening degree.

As described above, in this embodiment, the shift lever device 3 detected by the shift position sensor 33a is used.
The play amount Apo (dead band width) of the accelerator pedal 9 is set from the shift positions (P, R, N, D, S, L) of 3 and the water temperature Tw of the engine cooling water detected by the water temperature sensor 32, The throttle opening command value θcmd is calculated using the play amount Apo and the accelerator operation amount Ap detected by the accelerator opening sensor 10. And the opening command value θcm
With the throttle command voltage Vcmd obtained by converting d,
The stepping motor 6 is driven to control the opening / closing operation of the throttle valve 5.

With this configuration, when the shift position of the shift lever device 33 is in the neutral (N) range or the parking (P) range and the engine 1 is not loaded, the play amount is determined in step 110 of FIG. Apo
Is set small, the responsiveness of the throttle valve 5 is improved. When the shift position is in the reverse (R) range, the play amount Apo is set to a large value in step 120 of FIG. 2, so sudden acceleration due to the depression operation of the accelerator pedal 9 can be prevented, and the operability of the accelerator pedal 9 is improved. To do. When the shift position is the drive (D) range, the second (S) range, or the low (L) range, the play amount Apo is set to a medium size in step 130 of FIG. It is possible to achieve both the operability of 9 and the responsiveness of the throttle valve 5.

Further, since the play correction coefficient KApo is set using the map of FIG. 4, the play amount Apo is corrected to a larger value as the water temperature of the cooling water circulating in the engine 1 becomes lower, and the throttle valve 5 The engine 1 can be protected without being suddenly opened.

As a result, in this embodiment, the depression characteristic of the accelerator pedal 9 can be adjusted to a value corresponding to the operating state of the engine 1, and the vehicle running performance and pedal feeling can be obtained according to the driver's request. be able to.

In particular, when the play amount Apo is set to a large value,
Since the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal 9 for obtaining the same throttle opening becomes large, the return spring 9a produces a large reaction force, and the driver desires to depress the accelerator pedal 9 with a larger pedal force when the play amount Apo is small. The engine torque of will not be obtained. For this reason, the driver feels the accelerator pedal 9 heavier, and a heavier pedal feeling is obtained.

When the play amount Apo is set small, the driver feels the pedal 9 lighter than when the play amount Apo is large, and a light pedal feeling is obtained. In addition, according to the present invention, since the above-described operation and effect can be obtained only by a software configuration without requiring a mechanical configuration that tends to be complicated, it is possible to simplify the configuration and realize cost saving. .

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but in the above embodiment, the shift lever device 33 and the water temperature sensor 3 serve as means for detecting the operating state of the engine.
Although 2 was used in combination, only one of them may be used.

In the above embodiment, the play amount Apo flea is changed, but the accelerator-throttle characteristic may be changed together with the change of the play amount Apo. For example, the linear characteristic shown in FIG. 3 can be changed to a desired curved characteristic to realize the characteristic that the throttle valve 5 opens rapidly or the characteristic that the throttle valve 5 opens slowly.

[0034]

According to the present invention, the excellent effect that the depression characteristic of the accelerator pedal can be adjusted according to the operating condition of the engine to improve the stable running of the vehicle and the pedal feeling is exhibited. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a throttle control device in an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a routine for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between an accelerator operation amount and a throttle opening.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a water temperature and a play correction coefficient.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship among an accelerator operation amount, an engine speed, and a throttle opening command value.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a throttle opening command value and a throttle command voltage.

FIG. 7 is a claim correspondence diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Engine 2 ... Intake pipe 5 ... Throttle valve 6 ... Stepping motor as a throttle actuator 9 ... Accelerator pedal 10 ... Accelerator opening sensor 23 as accelerator pedal operation amount detection means 23 ... CPU as dead zone width setting means and control means 32 ... Water temperature sensor 33a as engine operating state detecting means 33a ... Shift position sensor as engine operating state detecting means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A throttle actuator for opening and closing a throttle valve provided in an intake pipe of an engine, accelerator pedal operation amount detecting means for detecting an operation amount of an accelerator pedal, and an engine for detecting an operating state of the engine. The operating condition detecting means, and the width of the dead zone of the accelerator pedal for closing the throttle valve from the non-operated position of the accelerator pedal to the position operated by a predetermined amount, the operation of the engine detected by the engine operating condition detecting means. Using the dead zone width setting means set according to the state and the dead zone width set by the dead zone width setting means, the throttle opening corresponding to the accelerator pedal depression amount detected by the accelerator pedal operation amount detecting means is opened. Control for controlling the throttle actuator Throttle control apparatus characterized by comprising a stage. 2. The throttle control device according to claim 1, wherein the engine operating state detecting means is a shift position sensor for detecting a shift position of an automatic transmission connected to the engine. 3. The throttle control device according to claim 1, wherein the engine operating state detecting means is a water temperature sensor that detects a temperature of cooling water circulating in the engine.